I understand that that special
was upon request. I sure do thank you for that
request. It's so beautiful. And actually,
it's a wonderful introduction to the message this morning. I can't even express the strength of my desire
To have Christ. Give me Christ or else I die. To know him. I titled the message
this morning, Whom Have I in Heaven but Thee? Psalm 73 that
Jonathan just read for us. In verse 24, David says, Thou
shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
There is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. Now David is asking, what hope
do I have of salvation other than the Lord? Who else would
forgive my sin so that I can go be with the Lord? Who else
can put my sin away, make me holy so I'm fit to go to heaven? Who else could bring me into
heaven? He says here, and he's confident of this at the end
of verse 24, he said, afterward, you'll receive me to glory. Well,
who else would do that for me? Who else would receive me into
glory? And even though I know the Lord and I trust the Lord,
who else would put up with all my weak faith? You know, here,
you know, David says, whom have I in heaven but thee, Earlier
in the chapter, David found himself envious of the wicked. They go
through life not knowing Christ, not trusting the Lord. And David
says, looks like it worked out pretty good for them. They don't
have all the troubles and all the trials and all the difficulties
that I have. David says, it looks to me like
I've washed my hands in vain. I've trusted the Lord in vain. Now, if you're a believer, you
cannot find it in your heart to be hard on David for putting
those words, pinning those words, can you? Every believer can identify
with weak faith. We're all, we're so ashamed of
it. We're ashamed of our weak faith. But we understand that
believers have that as long and will as long as we're in this
flesh. And David tells us only the Lord would forgive that kind
of weak faith. Only the Lord would put up with that. He says
in verse, 21, thus my heart was grieved. I was pricked in my
reins. So foolish was I, so ignorant.
I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I'm continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Nevertheless, you've not let go of me. You've not cast
me out. Now who else would do that for
me? Who else? But the Lord, he's the only one.
In spite of our sin, in spite of our weak faith, the Lord is
still for his people. The same way David says here,
who else have I in heaven but thee? Who else is for me in heaven? The Lord's still with his people,
he's for his people, the same way he was for David of old.
And this morning, I wanna give you six blessings that you have
if Christ is for you in heaven. First, look at Romans chapter
eight. If Christ is for you in heaven, then your soul can never
perish, never. Romans eight, verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What should we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? The Lord is
for his people so strongly, nothing can ever take them away from
him, nothing. If the Lord be for us, Paul says,
who can be against us? No one and no thing. Now, they'll
be against us, but they can never prosper. if the Lord is for me. If Almighty God has called you,
no one can uncall you. If Christ has called you to himself,
nobody can ever call you away from him. If God has justified
you, you can never be charged with any sin. Because if God
has justified you, you don't have any sin. If Almighty God
has purposed to glorify you, nothing can stop God from doing
it. because he always accomplishes his will. No enemy will ever
prosper against you if God is for you. Well, what about just
me myself? Can I be left with nothing? Can
I be left without anything that I need to stand before God? Not
if God is for you, but you won't. Verse 32, he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? If God is for you,
he has freely given you all things in Christ. Everything that you
need to stand in his presence. If Christ died for me, he purchased
everything that I need by the blood of his sacrifice. Everything
God requires of me, Christ purchased it by his death upon the cross. If Christ died for me, I'm justified. He made me righteous and I must
be called, I must be kept, I must ultimately be glorified, I must
be given everything that God requires of me. And if God's
for me, he'll give it all to me freely. Well, how about my sins? My sin is great, even after the
Lord's revealed himself to me, my sin is so great. Will I ever
be damned for my sin? Can I ever do something bad enough
that God'll cast me out anyway? Not if God's for me, he won't.
Verse 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justified. If Christ was made sin for me,
he took my sin into his own body upon the tree. then my sin is
gone. Christ has already been punished
as the substitute for my sin. If Christ died for me, the debt's
paid. His blood has washed me white
as snow. The blood of Christ made the
sin of his people to not even exist. That's what justified
means. Justified does not mean just
as if I'd never sinned. Justified means I have never
sinned. I have no sin because the blood
of Christ put it away. Now, if Christ died for me, there's
no sin that even God could charge me with because he put that sin
away. Well, what about God's justice? I know what I deserve for my
sin. That makes me full of fear, doesn't
it? Will God's justice ever get me? Not if God is for you, it
won't. Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. If Christ was condemned for
my sin, God's justice will never condemn me for it too. Because
that wouldn't be just. God's always just, isn't that
right? He's always just, he's always holy. What would be unjust
for him to punish his son for my sin, then punish me for the
same sin. That would be unjust. And I know that the sacrifice
of Christ put the sin of his people away. You know how I know
that? After Christ died, he rose again from the grave. See, it
was sin that required his death, but he put that sin away. And
where there is no sin, there can be no death. He rose from
the grave because that sin charged to him is gone. So nobody can
condemn me because he put my sin away. My own heart, it's going to condemn
me for my sin. That's what my conscience does.
My conscience tells me, you did wrong. You should have done that.
You shouldn't have thought that. You did wrong. And I have to say with David,
I acknowledge my sin. I acknowledge it. I hate my sin. I wish I'd never sinned again.
I hate it. But when I look to Christ and
I trust Him, my conscience is clear. My conscience is quiet
because Christ put my sin away. Satan, the accuser of the brethren,
he's still gonna give me lots of trouble. He's still gonna
make lots of accusations against me. And you know what? Every
one of those accusations is true. I committed every sin. There's
not one sin I can say, I didn't do that. But I don't have to
fear ever being condemned for my sin. Not as long as God is
for me. Because if God is for me, Christ
is making intercession for me. How does Christ make intercession
then for his people? By pleading the blood of his
sacrifice. And if he pleads his blood, then
I'll never be condemned. Never. It's just like the blood
on the doorpost on that night of the Passover. Remember God
said, I'm gonna pass through Egypt this night, and when I
see the blood, I'll pass over thee. Well, the blood on that
door meant there's already been death in this home tonight. The
lamb died. The blood has been applied. There's
no need for another death. Justice has already been satisfied.
That's what the blood of Christ says for his people. Justice
has been satisfied. Christ died to satisfy God's
justice. There's no reason that God would
ever find to condemn anyone who's under the blood of Christ because
the blood atoned for that sin. Well, all right. How about the
things of this life? Events and circumstances come
up. Can something ever come up in this creation that can make
me lose my salvation? All of it's against God. Can
anything come up that would make me lose my salvation? What if
I respond badly when God sends me trials, trouble, persecution,
and pain? What if I respond badly, huh? What if I become full of fear
and deny I even know the Lord like Peter did? Can something
happen that will make me unfit for heaven? Can it? Not if God's for me it can't.
Look at verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Should tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We're counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we're more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I'm persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No, none of these things will
ever separate me from God. None of these things will ever
make me unfit for heaven, because God is working all these things,
death and life and angels and principalities and powers and
things present and things to come, all the heights, all the
depths, all the other creatures, God's working all those things
together for good, just like we just sung. He's working those
things together for good, to them that love God, to them that
are called according to his purpose. Now that is a great assurance
for every believer since Christ is in heaven for us. Nothing
will keep me from going to be with him. All right, number two,
look back at John chapter 14. In John 14, the Savior is alone
with his disciples and he's telling them some of the things that
are getting ready to happen. He's told his disciples, one
of them, one of those 12 is going to betray him. And then he told
Peter, Peter, you're going to deny me. Can you imagine hearing that?
I mean, we read this. I mean, this this happened to
these men. These men, they loved the Lord.
They loved it. They've been with him for three
and a half years. And now he tells him one of you is going
to betray me to be crucified. And Peter, the mouthpiece for
them all, you're gonna deny me? Can you imagine how this broke
their heart, how the stress and the worry this put on them? Well,
immediately after he told them that, look what the Savior told
him in chapter 14 of John, verse one. Now let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. Now the Savior told him,
don't let your heart be troubled. I'm gonna go prepare a place
for you. I'm gonna go to prepare a people for the place and a
place for the people. I'm gonna do that by going to
the cross. Now I'm gonna be betrayed, but I'm gonna go willingly. I'm
gonna go willingly to the cross and be the sacrifice for the
sin of my people. You see, the Savior prepared
his people for the place by shedding his precious blood and washing
his people white as snow. He made them fit to be there
because he put their sin away. That's what Paul meant in Colossians
1 verse 12, when he said, giving thanks unto the Father, which
hath made us meet. He's made us fit. He's made us
qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. The blood of Christ made you fit, made you qualified
to lay down this body in death and enter immediately into the
presence of the Savior. Immediately. By his sacrifice, Christ made
all of his people qualified That's what 2 Corinthians 5.21 is all
about. For He, God the Father, hath
made Him, God the Son, to be sin for us. Him that knew no
sin, that we might be made what? The righteousness of God. The
righteousness of God in Him. Now if you've been made the righteousness
of God, you're fit. You're qualified for heaven.
I know we don't see that in our experience and in our flesh.
Because in our flesh it's not so. But in the new man it's so,
isn't it? Don't ever let that trouble you. That the Savior
won't take you straight into His presence. He made you fit
to go there. And the Savior told His hurting,
fearful disciples, now I'm going to prepare a place for you. I love that he said that. He
didn't just say, I'm going to repair a place. Gary said it
for you. I'm telling you, there's a dwelling
place. This mansion doesn't, it doesn't mean a great big mansion
and it means a dwelling place. There is a dwelling place in
heaven for every last one of God's leg. And I know I know
you're full of doubts and fears now. I know. And if you're not
full of doubts and fears now, you're going to be right soon.
And even though all those doubts and fears come upon you, the
Savior says, I will have a place in heaven for you when I bring
you there. I will. I promise you that. It's
like going to a big fancy reception. And you ever been to one of those
places and they have seating assigned, you know, and you walk
around all the tables, you know, There's all the silverware, and
the napkins, and the plates, and the centerpieces, and the
flowers, and everything's so beautiful and fancy. And I feel
kind of like, you know, hillbilly like me really don't belong here.
Maybe they got me a spot out there in the kitchen or out there
in the back. And I find a table that's got my name on it. A place
reserved. They had a place reserved for
me. That's what heaven's gonna be
like for God's people. There's a place reserved specifically
for you. The Savior went and prepared
a place for you. And you know what? The Savior said, until
it comes time for me to call you there, you know what I'm
gonna do for you? I'm gonna give you a comforter. Look down at
verse 16. And I will pray the Father and
he should give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever
even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him, for he
dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will not leave you orphans.
I will not leave you homeless orphans. I will come to you. The Holy Spirit comforts God's
people. And you know how he does it?
By always showing us Christ. by always pointing us to Christ
and reminding us of Him. And the Savior said, I'll send
you that comforter. He'll be with you till I come to get you. Don't ever forget this. I'm coming
to get you. He said in the book of Revelation,
behold, I come quickly. Quickly. All right, number three. If the
Lord is for you in heaven, You have an advocate in heaven itself
at the right hand of God. Now, I've already mentioned Christ,
our mediator. He's in heaven. He's making intercession for
his people. And we love to think about that. Don't you love to
think about Christ himself? Jesus Christ, a man is in glory,
making intercession for his people. I love to think about that. John
said in 1 John 2 verse 1, My little children, these things
write I unto you that you sin not. But if, and you know that
should be translated when, when any man sin, we have an advocate
with the father. And our advocate is Jesus Christ
the righteous. Now let me ask you, Jesus Christ
the righteous, if he's making intercession for you, how comforting
should that be to your heart? Well, it all depends on how effective
the intercession of Christ is, doesn't it? However effective
that is, that's how comforting it should be to my heart. Well,
will Christ's intercession for one of his elect, will it ever
fail? Will it ever fail so one of them
will perish? Never. Never, never, never, never, never.
Because Christ our intercessor is pleading the blood of his
sacrifice. You see, he's Jesus Christ the righteous. He's pleading
his obedience. That's the righteousness of his
people. He's pleading his blood for the forgiveness of the sins
of his people, and the father will always accept the blood
of his son. Always. Because nobody knows
better than the father that the blood of Christ paid the debt
in full. See, our sin debt's owed to God, to his justice,
right? Nobody but God, nobody knows better than God, the Father.
That debt's been paid. The blood was enough to satisfy
me. Look at Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews chapter seven. Verse 24. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Now the writer here
had been talking about all those priests after the order of Aaron.
And boy, they went through a whole lot of religious ceremony, didn't
they? All through the tabernacle, the temple, all the things that
they had to do all the time, all the time, all the time. They
offered sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice. Those priests
offered millions of animal sacrifices that never saved not one single
solitary person. Because it's not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. But then
Christ came. A high priest after the order
of Melchizedek. He offered one sacrifice for
sin forever. And then he did something all
those high priests never did. He sat down. Now just one sacrifice. And he sat down, you know why?
Because one sacrifice is all it took to put away the sin of
his people forever. And that sacrifice saved all
of his people to the uttermost. Fully, completely, perfectly
saved. And when Christ makes intercession
for his people, that's the sacrifice that he pleads. So you never
have to worry if the intercession of Christ will fail, because
his sacrifice will never fail. He'll never fail. So if he's
for you in heaven, making intercession for you, you can never perish. Never. That's good enough to live by,
and that's good enough to take to your deathbed. If Christ is
making intercession for you, you can never perish. All right,
number four, look back at Hebrews chapter two. If the Lord is in
heaven for you, you know what he's doing there? He's ruling
there for you to guarantee your salvation. Hebrews chapter two,
verse five. For unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak. But one
in a certain place testified, saying, what is man that thou
art mindful of him? For the son of man that thou
shouldest visit visit us to him. Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels. For a little while, he made him
a little lower than the angels. Thou crowned him with glory and
honor and did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou has
put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, ground with glory and
honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
son. That word man should have been
translated son, it means for the whole. For it became him
for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing
many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through suffering. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise
unto thee. And again, I'll put my trust in him. And again, behold
I and the children which God hath given me. Now the father
made his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be king of all. He bought that right by his sacrifice,
by that one sacrifice for sin. That means that the Lord Jesus
Christ is sovereign over everything. Everything, everything you can
think of. Every movement, movement of every creature, every movement
of anything in God's creation. None of that could happen without
the express permission of Christ our Savior. He's ruling over
everything. And do you know why the father
did it that way? It's so that Christ, who died to save his
people from their sin, would also be the king who sovereignly
applies that salvation to the hearts of his people. The father
made his son king of all. So in the end, the king can say,
father, here I am. And here is every one you ever
gave me to save. I brought them all to you. Not
one's missing. He can guarantee that because
He's king over all. Nothing could ever take one of
His people out of His hand. If Christ rules for you in heaven,
now you take comfort in this, He's using that sovereign power
over everything going on in creation. And there's so many things going
on in creation that scares me half to death, that makes me
worried. Oh, the older I get, the more I worry about what we're
leaving to this next generation. What have we done? And you take
comfort. That is not happening out of
control of our Father. No, He is working this, He purposed
this to happen. He's using His sovereign power
causing it to happen just the way it's happened. So that He
can guarantee your salvation and bring you to glory. That's
what He's using His sovereign power for. Even if we don't understand
why He's doing what He's doing. I know this, that's what he's
doing it for. I know it. To bring his people to be with
him eternally. All right, number five. If the
Lord is in heaven for you, he has entered heaven for you as
the forerunner. Look at Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews six, verse 16. For men barely swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife,
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who had
fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which
hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil, whether the
forerunner is entered for us. Even Jesus, made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, believers often find themselves
in need of comfort only. And when you need comfort, what
will truly comfort your soul? What will truly comfort your
soul? Well, it's got to be something that's true. It's got to be something
that can't change. It's not just a, it's not a lie. That can't comfort your soul.
It's not mere sentiment saying, well, you know, it's all going
to turn out right in the end. It's got to be something that's true.
It's got to be something that can't change. Well, God swore
to save his people by two unchangeable things. God's counsel in God's
word, those two things are unchangeable. I don't care how long this creation
lasts, God's purpose and God's word are unchangeable, never
change. God's counsel, his purpose, his
purpose to save his people from their sin, that glorify them
together with his son will never change. Because God can't change. You know, my purpose has changed
from day to day because I change, you know, what's important to
me today may not be all that important to me tomorrow. It may be real
important for me to clean out clutter and throw it away today,
but it may not be tomorrow. I mean, you know, who knows?
Well, who knows what's gonna be with me? God never changes. So his purpose will never change.
And God's word will never change. I'm telling you the first time
somebody says something to you about the Bible, that was the
old days and that doesn't, you know, Be done. Be done. God's Word never changes. And He has promised in His Word,
I'm going to save my people by my grace. I'm going to be merciful. I'm going to be gracious. I'm
going to redeem. I'm going to call them to myself,
that where I am, they may be forever. That Word will never
change. God's going to save His people.
He's gonna do it by his grace, he's gonna do it through faith
that he's gonna give him, and not one word of this book will
ever fall to the ground. Now you can trust your soul to
the promise of God, to the purpose of God, and to his word. I don't
care what happens in time. And I got no idea what's gonna
happen tomorrow, what's gonna happen in the future, but whatever
it is that happens, in the end, God's gonna have all of his people
with him in glory. Every last one of them is going
to be redeemed. Every last one of them is going to be glorified
together with Christ. And here's how I know that's
true. When Christ died, he arose again
from the grave. He arose again because the sin
that was laid on him was gone. He couldn't stay dead because
the sin that was laid on him is gone. It was all put away
by what's pictured on this table. His broken body and his shed
blood. And after he rose from the grave,
about 40 days later, he ascended back to heaven. And when he got
there, he was accepted of the father. The father said, now
you sit down right here on my right hand till I make all your
enemies your footstool. The man Christ Jesus entered
into glory and he was accepted on his merit, by his obedience,
by the merit of his sacrifice. Now Christ is the forerunner
The forerunner. It doesn't say the only runner.
It says the forerunner. The forerunner crossed the finish
line. When he crossed the finish line,
he opened the way to heaven for his people. And since Christ
is the forerunner, you don't have to be right bright to figure
this out. There's a whole lot of runners coming after him.
All his people. And all those people, when they
cross the finish line, when they finish this course, this race
that God's given them, They're gonna get there and be accepted
on the basis of Christ's merit, for the same reason that he was
accepted. Now let that comfort your heart. Calm down about all
the junk going on around us. You're not staying here forever.
He's gonna come get you. Very soon, you're gonna follow
the forerunner into glory, and you're gonna see him face to
face. All right, here's the last thing. Look at Revelation chapter
22. And this goes right along with
the special that Terrence Shawn sung for us. If the Lord's in
heaven for you, he will be heaven for you. Revelation 22 verse
one. And he showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb In the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which
bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him,
and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their
foreheads. Now heaven, as John saw it, is
all about Christ. It's all about seeing Him. It's
all about being made just like Him. Desi Maynard used to sing
a song that I love. It's entitled, Waiting for Him. I'm longing for Him. I'm longing to see Him. I'm longing
to be with Him. I'm longing to be made just like
Him. And the last line of that song goes like this. In one of
these days, he's coming for me and all those bought at Calvary.
Then forever, he will be heaven for me. He will be heaven for
me. I'm telling you, we refer to
heaven as glory. Because it's got to be glory
beyond anything we can imagine. But you know why that place is
glory? is because Christ is there. I mean, what do you care about
streets of gold and pearly gates and a big old mansion if Christ
isn't there? One old writer said heaven would
be the valley of weeping if Christ is not there. That's what Mephibosheth
said to David. When David returned, he'd been
on the run from Absalom and now he'd returned home and Ziba had
lied on old Mephibosheth and told told David, Mephibosheth
didn't want to come with you, he didn't want to be joined to
you, he's joined to Absalom. But now David had promised, he
made a promise to his friend Jonathan that he'd take care
of Mephibosheth. So he got back and he thought,
well, you know, Ziba's, he's been loyal to me, Mephibosheth
hasn't. He said, Mephibosheth, all that I gave to you, now I'm
giving half of it to old Ziba. Now Mephibosheth knew Ziba cheated
him, he knew Ziba lied on him, but you know what Mephibosheth
said? David let him take it all. I don't care about any of that
stuff. I want to be with you. I want
to be with you. And that's what I say about the
Savior. I'm sure the surroundings beyond our wildest imagination. That's not what I'm looking forward
to. There's going to be folks there
that we love and I miss seeing. I reckon I'll see Him at some
point. But that ain't who I'm looking for first. How about
you? I want to see Him. I want to
be made just like Him. Give me Christ or else I die. And when we get to glory, you
know what we're going to see? John said we're going to see a Lamb
that had been slain. We're going to see the man, Christ Jesus.
still bearing the scars that he received in his body when
his body was broken and when his blood was shed to redeem
his people from their sin. We're gonna see him as he is. Now, where you gonna say that? Hasten, Lord, the day. Hasten,
Lord, the day. And until that day, our Lord
has told us to remember him We're remembering him, we're remembering
how he redeemed us, we're remembering what we're going to see in glory
someday, the land that had been slain by observing this table. So Wayne, you and me, come and
distribute the bread for us, if you would.